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Great for Tandems, potential students beware

Pros: Great if you want to do tandemsCons: Not for people wanting to get into the sport

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The best thing about Skydive Miami is that its located not too far from the city or the keys. The next best is Brett Scaglione my IAF instructor and Fred Whitsitt the owner, some of the friendliest people I have met.

After doing a tandem every year since 2011, last year I finally decided to get my A license so I enrolled into their IAF course. Thats when the professionalism went down hill. I paid for and reserved my first 3 IAF jumps in advance as well as ground school. No issues with the first jump, however the next 2 were hell. I had scheduled my second jump 1 week in advanced only to arrive and be told that there was a "weather delay" and to wait 5 hours or come the next day. I smiled cause I noticed there wasnt a cloud in the sky, the winds were 5 mph and the dropzone was full of tandem jumpers. I arrived the next day, and my instructor asked why I never showed up the day before. I replied that I was told there was a weather delay. He said they were jumping since sunrise to sundown. WOW!!

The third jump was the following week and this time when I got to the dropzone, no one knew I had reserved a jump for that day even though I called the day before to confirm. So, all the tandems jumped before me and it was a mission to get an instructor to jump with me. Now here comes the good part. Ground school!!

I show up, and again no one had a clue that I had reserved ground school except an instructor in training who came to observe the class, even though I called to confirm the day before. I heard manifest and instructors discuss who was going the do the ground school with me and to my surprise no one wanted to. Finally Brett reluctantly said he'd do it even though he was scheduled to do tandems that day. However, after 2 hours manifest tells Brett that a group of tandems just showed up and that he'd have to stop the class. Manifest calls me to the front and tells me to come back later in the week and finish ground. I abruptly leave as I have had enough. After driving for 15 minutes I turn back to ask for a refund when I get there, the instructor in training who came to observe the class told me he spoke to Fred, the owner and informed him of what was going on. We finished the class, I thanked them for their time and never came back.

(Review ID:8752)

Small but friendly Cessna dropzone.

Pros: Short distance from Miami.Cons: Small dropzone operation, slow turnaround.

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My first time there, in spring of 2013 wasn't the best experience, because of the long waiting time to get on a load. Few weeks ago I' decided to return there ( I' use to jump at Skydive Sebastian ) because of the short distance, ( 32 miles - 40 minutes ) from my home, in Doral ( Miami West side ). Also, now I've find out over Facebook a group of Free Flyers named Miami Freefly, ( this is my favourite discipline ). The issue of slow turnaround can be eased by pre-planning your day of jump with your friends, to make sure you will be on all loads you want to be, so, the Caravan climb fast, ( when it lands, the pilot need to wait the van returning from the landing area to carry the tandem instructors and/or the videographers ) the landing area is good, and, with experience now ( 439 jumps ) I've noted that, in case of cutaway, and you are low, you still have a lot of fields to land, just aim the center for the field, because on side there are power lines, water canal, fences, etc. and you are safe, while in Sebastian is not that easy, you may find yourself on top of a neiborhood. They have packers and rigging service. Now also a truck food close by, if you want have some launch. You won't find famous Load Organizers, but the community is growing well. In my personal case, I'm saving about 900 dollars per month, of gas, toll and hotel fee, considering 3 weekend out of 4, in a month. At end of days, is the people who meet there to jump that make the difference. Remember: wingsuiting is not allowed. Who cares?

(Review ID:7924)

Small, professional, friendly dropzone

From the first time I walked in the door, the professional staff and fun jumpers made me feel at home. They took the time to fully brief me on all the aspects of the landing area, the obstacles, and orient me to the DZ. I was included in all the jumps from a 3 way up to an 8 way. The other fun jumpers shared their techniques and experiences. The senior staff gave me pointers on improving my skills and finishing my ratings. I had a great weekend and will be back as many times as I can. The folks here are authentic.

Great for fun jumpers

I have no idea what some people are talking about in terms of this place being a tandem factory. The operation is very small, so the plane can only go up when there are tandems available. That's why they are not 100% sure what their hours will be. This is the case at many drop zones I've been to though. However, the scenery was spectacular, the staff was awesome, and the people there were just generally nice. I didn't have a jumpsuit so some random guy sitting on a bench who was waiting for someone to show up with his rig let me use his. I didn't even ask. He just offered it. One of the instructors who very experienced in four way jumped with my friend and I and helped coached us, just to be nice.

The only semblance of a "con" is the fact that when they run out of tandems or don't have enough fun jumpers, they have to shut down for the day... but you are in MIAMI. If you can't find something else fun to do until tomorrow, you suck.